What was it that solidified the Carolina Hurricanes’ decision to lock in Jackson Blake long term?

What was it that solidified the Carolina Hurricanes’ decision to lock in Jackson Blake long term?

Jackson Blake 8-year contract extension 5.1 and change average annual value over eight years and it doesn’t start until a year from now. We did the same thing. The Hurricanes did the same thing with Logan Stanovven. Uh an 8-year deal at 6 million per which will which will kick in after his entrylevel contract expires. Both of those contracts have one more year left, which means nine years each for Blake and Stanovven. There is some uh no trade protection at the back end of these deals. Uh but I think we can all get used to seeing number 22, assuming Stanovven keeps his number and number 53. Same with Blake for a long time. gentleman who negotiated these deals uh and is the general manager of your Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Tolski joins us on the Adam Gold show. First of all, I appreciate you doing anything from your vacation spot. How are you? I’m doing well. How are you? I’m doing very well. Uh and later on, I’ll ask you uh if you plan. Uh but let’s get to the Jackson Blake contract because I was uh in a lot of ways surprised. Not surprised that you would be interested. Uh but in some ways maybe surprised that Jackson would be interested this early. Uh because he had a really good year. 17 goals, 17 assists, and frankly those numbers probably should have both been higher given how snake bit he was for about 20 games. Uh so talk just walk me through uh this negotiation which uh I I’m sure went pretty well. Yeah, I mean look, nobody knows what the future holds and so there’s always a little bit of a draw for the player to play it out and bet on himself and see how he does and hope he gets more. Uh there’s also some risk to that, right? Maybe he gets hurt, maybe he has a down year, who knows, right? And so when you have the chance to lock in generational wealth, you know, sometimes that’s the right play. And there can be a win-win where the player avoids taking any risk that he doesn’t want to take. And the team gets a little bit of a discount for being willing to take that risk. And we get a deal that gives the player lifetime security and gives the team room to keep building and trying to get better. I know Eric Tolski is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. I know you said it today on the Zoom call. Um, but I think we saw it early in training camp that Blake did even without scoring a ton. I think he might have had a goal during uh during the preseason last year, but you could tell the way he plays the game, he just he just fit. When did you know that he was somebody that you wanted long term? Yeah, I mean I think as early as October we were talking about the possibility um as the year wore on he just kept taking steps forward and you know he moved up from the fourth line to the top line. He looked effective there. You know everywhere every challenge he’s had he overcame and so we felt like if you know if there was a deal to get done we were going to be happy to do it. And and it sounded like he was also very happy to do. He bought a boat. He bought a boat. I guess it was uh with this I don’t know with the signing bonus that was a quick turnaround uh if he bought the boat on Friday. Uh Eric Tolski is joining us here uh on the Adam Gold show. Do you when you guys have these conversations, do you think about like seriously what his ceiling is? What do you forecast for a player like him? Yeah, I mean it’s really hard to set a ceiling for Jackson because every step of the way he’s exceeded expectations. You know, he went from high school to the USHL. That’s a big jump and he beat expectations there. He went from there to the NCAA and beat expectations there. He went from there straight to the NHL without playing in the AHL and beat expectations there. And so, you know, who knows where the ceiling is? It’s hard to talk about. I mean, your expectations at every step. Yeah, it really was remarkable. And I think one of I think my favorite thing about him is that uh he he his puck retrieval I don’t know if you if you keep these, but in the offensive zone to maintain possession in a threatening spot, I mean, if there are stats for this, he would have to rank pretty high. Yeah, he is a puck hound and the way we play, you know, it’s a very valuable asset of someone who’s as hard on the puck as he is. and is tenacious about getting it back when we don’t have it. And he also, you know, he he’s not the biggest guy, but he gets to the interior and he fights to create premium chances. And so, you know, it’s it’s part of what we need for this team is to turn all the puck possession we have into premium chances. And he’s part of the answer to being able to do that. Another guy who also operates pretty comfortably in the middle of the ice, signed a long-term extension a couple of weeks ago, Logan Stanovven, uh a six-year deal. Um how important, how targeted was it when uh you acquired him that he be the player that Dallas include in that trade? Yeah. Uh so it’s an eight-year deal, too. Um he was a huge piece of that. I mean, you know, when we were talking about who we might get from them, he was the player who we had scouts and coaches saying, “If you can get him, you have to, you know, he is made to play for the Hurricanes and um he’s just someone we got to go get if we can.” So, let let me just ask you the difference in these two cases because Blake’s contract has some deferred money. Did you do that uh because you just wanted to get one more in before it became illegal? And why why wasn’t that the case with Logan? Is it just the case where a player and agent said no? Um I I talked to Tom Dundan about this, but I know they tried it in the past somewhat unsuccessfully with another player. Uh but what walk me through that if you can? Yeah, I mean look, every negotiation is different. Player has their own needs and their own wishes. their circumstances were different in terms of uh rights at the end of the contract and number of UFA years and their financial situations are different. It’s just they each had different needs and um Jack place where this was the deal that made sense for him and you know Logan was in a place where we needed to structure it a little bit differently. Eric Tolski is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. Before we get to KARE Miller and Nick Eers, I truly believe and I said this many, many times that you deserved a ton of credit for the big swing in January and then even more credit for saying, “All right, it’s not going to work. How do we pivot and still make this team better in the long run?” And you did that. The only thing I would say is that unless all of this was cover for acquiring Taylor Hall, I don’t think it was the last. Uh but it was like but that whole sequence was really really impressive to me. Yeah. I mean look we a core philosophy for this team. We want to be aggressive and that’s how we play on the ice and that’s how we manage off the ice too. And our goal is every time there’s a chance to get better, we want to take that shot. And you have to be aware of the downside in everything you do, but not be afraid of it. And we just believe if we if we take our shots and take our risks, you know, some percentage of them won’t pan out, but we’ll still come out ahead in the long run by being willing to be aggressive. And so we did that on the first deal. And you know, if we had been able to sign Nico, that would have been fantastic for us. Uh, it also put us in a spot where, like I said, we need to be aware of the downside and what if it goes wrong. And we knew we were doing it early enough that we had a chance to evaluate it and potentially pivot out of it if we needed to. And we did that. We felt like we got a good deal in the end that left us in a good place. And we’re very happy with where we are and what our future looks like. I asked I’ve asked Rod Bindmore a similar question because there is a perception out there that this team isn’t aggressive. Does that does that even though it’s I think it’s everything is to the contrary is do does do the does the reputation of the organization in any way bother you even though we have proof otherwise? Uh no. I mean, look, I we’re going to run the team the way we need to run the team. And it’s um I try to do media spots to help people understand how we’re thinking about it and help people get their head around it. But, you know, everybody’s entitled to think about things however they want. And if somebody wants to come to the conclusion that we’re not being as aggressive as they want us to be, like that’s fine. They’re entitled to that view. That is true. It is uh it is still America. Eric Tolski is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. All right. What do you like about Kayn Miller even though he’s a left shot? Yeah, I mean he just the way he plays we think is going to be a really good fit for us. He skates really well. He closes out hard. He can be strong in front of the net. He can get to the the puck to the net in the offensive zone. You know, it just the things that we ask defensemen to do all seem to come naturally to him. And we think that playing in a system that is tailor made to his game should unlock a level that we haven’t seen before. And we think he’s going to be a fixture for us for a long time. I mean, 65, 210 lbs, 25 years old. I mean, that that doesn’t really grow on trees. Yeah. Yep. and you know the the size skating and like you said, you know, he’s in his prime and we were able to sign him at a number that we think will be reasonable over the long term. You know, it just it all fits with what we’re trying to do. Speaking of reasonable, still 10 million, we’re going to get to Nick Eers in a second. Still 10.5 million under the cap. I think 10.64 exactly under the cap. Um that obviously gives you a lot of flexibility. Um, what else? What is it? What else is running through your uh through your mind? Areas you might want to address? Yeah, I mean, I wish we didn’t have any cap space. The the free agent market dried up a little faster than we hoped to. I would have loved to have been able to use that room to bring in, you know, one or two more high impact players. Um, but, you know, it didn’t go that way. The free agent market was pretty thin. And so now we will keep poking away at the trade market, see if there’s anything we can do before the season. Um, and we’re sort of looking ahead and wondering if there’s going to be a little bit of a second wave of movement as the season gets going and teams find out that they don’t have exactly what they thought they were going to have when they built their roster. You just said exactly what I would been saying for weeks. Like there’s like 31 teams that think they’re going to win. only one uh I guess the Pittsburgh Penguins that really doesn’t believe that this is their year. Uh and it’s going to might take might take four months before we figure that out, right? Yep. I mean, we’ll see how it goes, but I you know, I I think right now a lot of teams want to take a run at it early in the year and see how things go. I would imagine that as the season plays out and some of them realize that it’s not going the way they hoped, they will start to look at other opportunities. And we still do have, you know, a lot of future picks and a lot of prospects and a lot of cap space. And so if there are opportunities to add players, we should be able to be aggressive. All right, two more quick things and then we’ll let Eric Tulski go uh back on vacation. Uh Nick Eers, took me too long to get to uh the prize free agent acquisition. Um your thoughts on where he fits and why he fits there? Yeah, I mean he’s an incredibly skilled player, one of the best skaters in the league. Um he he’s just dynamic and again, you know, to the point about we have the puck as much as anybody does and turning possession into premium scoring chances and goals is the way we keep taking steps forward and he’s a guy who can help us do that. He is a a dynamite player and a good finisher as well. Now, do you have thoughts on potentially any prospects doing a Jackson Blake in the preseason and basically screaming, “Yeah, we got to keep this guy.” Yeah, I mean, we have, I think, several guys who are right on the cusp. Obviously, uh, Bradley Nidau had a fantastic season in the AHL last year. Um, you know, I think Felix is one big summer away from taking a step like Jackson did. Um, I think we have a couple guys on D who are ready for a call up at least here and there. Um, whether any of them actually kick down the doors to be on the opening night lineup remains to be seen. We have a pretty deep team right now and that makes that hard, but when somebody looks ready, we will find room for them. You know, that’s it is that is always the easiest problem in the world to solve that you have too many good players. Yeah, that’s I mean, if you look at it now, I mean, there’s going to be a good player or two or three that there’s no room for. And I I love the fact that Tyson Jo came back. Uh, and real quick about uh Yes. Sperry Coat Gin because I know a lot of people have written uh him off. Um, but there’s center spots available. I know I talked to Rod about potentially moving uh Seth Jarvis to the middle. I assume that will probably happen in training camp and we’ll even we’ll see a test run of it, but that doesn’t mean that Koki isn’t part of the opening night lineup at center, right? Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot to play out still, but yeah, he’s he’s been a valuable piece for us and you know that’s centers are not easy to find right now and young centers on deals that are very reasonable compared to what free agents are getting right now. like that’s an asset and we’re we’re happy to keep looking for ways to get better at every position. Not just, you know, all the talk is about that one in particular, but up and down the lineup, we’re trying to get better at every position and so I’m never going to rule anything out, but you know, as it stands right now, I see him as a piece. Do you get relaxing time where you are? Uh, it’s never really relaxing. I would say it’s about 20% less stressed now than it was a month ago, but it’s, you know, there’s always work to do. You don’t just turn your phone off and stare at the surf or I don’t know, get some seafood to cook something. Do a cross word puzzle. No, there’s not a lot of that going on. Look, there’s there’s a lot to do. You know, the the roster is mostly set right now, but there’s still a staff to manage. There’s scouts to get ready for the season. You know, there’s a lot to do, and that never stops. You’re not allowed to take a vacation. Uh, Eric Tolski, Eric Tolski, I appreciate your time. Uh, good work on the roster. I will see you in a few weeks, I guess, when everything cranks up. Sounds good. Thanks for having me. You got it. Eric Tolski here on the Adam Gold

Eric Tulsky, Carolina Hurricanes General Manager, joins the Adam Gold Show to discuss signing Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven to long term contracts. What was Eric’s thought process in grabbing up players like Nikolaj Ehlers and K’Andre Miller? What is he doing with his down time this summer?

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